Hellyeah are ready to rock your world this spring, and they’ve got the album to do it. We got an early listen to ‘Blood for Blood’ and it’s a full-on rocker. As drummer Vinnie Paul tells it, it’s a disc that truly captures the roots of what the band is all about. Paul took a few moments to chat with ‘Loudwire Nights’ host Full Metal Jackie about the disc, and he also addressed the recent lineup changes the band has undergone. Check out Full Metal Jackie’s chat with Hellyeah’s Vinnie Paul below.

Loudwire Nights, Full Metal Jackie. With us on the show we have the one and only Vinnie Paul. How are you?

I’m doing great, how are you doing?

Doing great, a lot of excitement around the release of the new album ‘Blood for Blood.’ It’s coming out June 10. What makes ‘Blood for Blood’ the one that will make people say, “Yeah man, Hellyeah really hit their stride with this one!”

I think we got back on track with the last record. ‘Band of Brothers’ was much more back to our metal roots and what people expected from us. The first two albums were really very experimental for us. We wanted to try some things we couldn’t do in all of our previous bands, a song like “Alcohaulin’ Ass.’ You know stuff like that wouldn’t fly with Pantera or Mudvayne or anything like that. We really wanted to delve into some blues, some Southern rock, regular rock and metal. Then when we got around to ‘Band of Brothers.’ We just said, “Hey we got that out of our system, let’s get back to our metal roots.” When we got to ‘Blood for Blood,’ it was much more focused. We took it from another level at that point, I think that is going to be the defining point for this band.

Vinnie, a new bass player and one guitarist really is a whole different rhythm section for Hellyeah. What’s exciting about this new four-man set up?

It’s very exciting. We do have two guitarists, we have a touring guitarist out with us Chris B. [Christian Brady]. If things continue to go the way they are, he’ll be a permanent guitarist. Kyle Sanders is just a perfect fit. He toured with us when he was in Bloodsimple and Monstro and we really didn’t want to go through an audition process seeing if we could find the next Billy Sheehan. We just felt like we needed a guy to fit right in with us. When we called Kyle, before we could even ask if he wanted it, he says I’m the guy. So that’s all we needed to hear. He fits in great, man. He’s a great visual player as well, in addition to a powerful bass player.

At this point, what’s the hardest part about making personnel changes in a band?

We obviously had history together with Bob and Greg. When we got around to getting ready to go into the studio for this record we realized that they didn’t have the same focus, they didn’t have the same drive that we did. We weren’t going to be able to make the record we did if they were still a part of it. It’s kind of sad to say goodbye sometimes but sometimes to move forward you have to, and that’s what we did.

Rhino just released a re-mastered anniversary version of ‘Far Beyond Driven.’ What would the Vinnie Paul of 20 years ago like best about Hellyeah?

Very similar. Very focused, very dedicated to music. I’ve never been married, I don’t have any kids. I’ve always been married to music. It’s been my whole life. I’m a little wiser, I know a little bit more about the business these days but as far as that goes, same guy.

Our thanks to Vinnie Paul for the interview. You can pre-order their ‘Blood for Blood’ disc at this location before it arrives in stores on June 10. Also, look for the band on tour with Avenged Sevenfold this spring at these locations. You can listen to ‘Loudwire Nights’ with host Full Metal Jackie Monday through Friday at 7PM through Midnight on more than 20 stations across America. To find out where you can hear ‘Loudwire Nights,’ click here.

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